Railway bridges blown up, journalists shot at and power supplies crippled: REBECCA EVANS finds Donetsk a ghost town as residents flee advancing Ukrainian forces in stronghold of rebels who shot down MH17

• For two days, the ominous sound of heavy shelling and gunfire has been getting closer to Donetsk as Ukrainian military try to reclaim city from rebels
• Government is coming down on rebels who formed Donetsk People's Republic 
• Crucial railway bridge leaving the city was blown up today, meaning thousands who flocked to train station had to return to their homes
• Airport has also been destroyed, leaving only the highly dangerous option of travelling by road
  

By Rebecca Evans for the Daily Mail and Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 15:37 EST, 26 July 2014 | Updated: 08:52 EST, 27 July 2014

A strong smell of explosives hung in the air and the streets of Donetsk were eerily quiet as darkness fell tonight.

Gone were the normal sounds of traffic and of the city’s one million residents going about their daily lives - the only noise was the distant rumble of war.

For two days that ominous sound - of heavy shelling and gunfire - has been getting closer as the Ukrainian military try to reclaim the key city from pro-Russian separatists.

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Reporter Rebecca Evans, pictured at the crash site of MH17, does not know when she will be able to leave Donetsk as the distant rumble of war gets closer

The government, embarrassed by its inability to secure the MH17 crash site, is coming down hard on the rebels who formed the Donetsk People’s Republic five months ago.

During the day, a crucial railway bridge leaving the city was blown up, meaning thousands of people who flocked to the train station had to leave and return to their homes.

As the airport has been destroyed by the Ukrainian military, the only other option is by road - a highly dangerous route.

Today, journalists trying to leave were fired upon at military check points by drunken, Kalashnikov-wielding, inexperienced rebels.

Like many others, myself and my colleague, photographer Jamie Wiseman, were trying to leave the city by train after reporting on the horrendous scenes at the MH17 crash site and the shocking fact that the bodies of many victims have yet to be removed.

At the station, one local woman told me: ‘That would have been the last train out of here. I do not know what we will do now.

A man looks at a destroyed bus station in the outskirts of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on Friday. For two days the ominous sound of heavy shelling and gunfire has been getting closer to Donetsk as the Ukrainian military try to reclaim the key city from pro-Russian separatists

The smashed windows of a house in the outskirts of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine

‘It is very dangerous to drive but we will try.’

I do not know when I will be able to leave and if I can find a driver willing to attempt to try.

For now, the city’s shops have been boarded up and both water and power supplies are failing. During the night, a crucial gas pipe was blown up and the cash machines have run dry.

A curfew operates from 11pm to 6am and anyone caught breaching it carries the risk of arrest or worse.

As I write, the fighting has moved closer into the city, on the roads by the airport and everyone has been told to stay inside and close their windows.

But even with the doors and windows shut, the terrifying, booming sound of artillery can be clearly heard as the city of Donetsk comes closer each minute to descending into a state of full-blown war.

Ukrainian servicemen in the village of Verhnyokamyanske, not far Artemovsk, in the Donetsk region, on Friday

The government, embarrassed by its inability to secure the MH17 crash site, is coming down hard on the rebels who formed the Donetsk People's Republic five months ago. Pictured are Ukrainian servicemen in the village of Verhnyokamyanske, not far Artemovsk, in the Donetsk region

Ukrainian officials have today said their forces advanced to the outskirts of a key town north of the city as they try to retake the stronghold.

The move comes as Ukrainian forces appear to have gained some momentum recently by retaking control of territory from the rebels.

Russia however also appears to becoming more involved in the fighting.

The U.S. and Ukraine have accused Moscow of moving heavy artillery across the border to the rebels.

Ukrainian national security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Ukrainian forces were outside Horlikva, just north of the regional centre of Donetsk.

Once they can take Horlivka, 'the direct route is open for the forces of the anti-terrorist operation to the capital of the Donbass region - the city of Donetsk,' Lysenko said.

Two military cargo planes, one Dutch and the other Australian, today flew 38 more coffins carrying victims to the Netherlands for identification and investigation

Soldiers could be seen carrying coffins with the remains of the victims of MH17 from a plane and into a waiting hearse at Eindhoven military airport today

'The approaches to Donetsk are being blocked so that the terrorists do not get the chance to receive ammunition, reinforcements or equipment.'

Donetsk, a city of about 1 million people, is a major centre of the separatist uprising that has battled Ukrainian government forces for five months.

Meanwhile, a full-fledged investigation into the shooting down of MH17 still hasn't started because of the security risks posed by the nearby fighting.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials say flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from rebel territory, most likely by mistake.

Two military cargo planes, one Dutch and the other Australian, also today flew 38 more coffins carrying victims to the Netherlands for identification and investigation.

Later, the Dutch government said the first formal identification of a victim had taken place.

The name and sex of the victim, a Dutch national, weren't released.

The planes took off from Kharkiv, a government-controlled city where the bodies have been brought from the wreckage site in territory held by pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian government.

They landed later in the afternoon in Eindhoven, where the coffins were transferred to a fleet of hearses in a solemn ceremony.

Officials said the flights took the last of the 227 coffins containing victims that had been brought to Kharkiv by refrigerated train. Officials say the exact number of people held in the coffins is still to be determined by forensic experts in the Netherlands, where Ukraine agreed to send the bodies.

International observers have said there are still remains at the wreckage site. Access however has been limited due to rebel interference and security concerns.

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